В Карлайле открыли литературный маршрут по романам М.В. Крейвена: фанаты со всего мира собираются у вокзала

A cynic may quip that nothing says Carlisle more than hundreds of people queuing for pies at a train station. And if you were at Carlisle railway station on August 13, you would have witnessed just such a sight. But as fine as the baked goods crafted by Pie Demand are, this queue wasn't there just for the steak and haggis. For Pie Demand marked the start of the Poe and Tilly trail, a unique event held to mark the launch of Carlisle crime-writing phenomenon M.W. Craven's latest Washington Poe novel, The Killer's Mark. The new book is the eighth instalment in the hugely popular series and places Carlisle firmly back at the heart of the story. Around 200 people took part in the trail, which led fans around the city in the footsteps of the fictional duo. And among them were visitors who had travelled not just from elsewhere in Britain, but from across the globe. As a bit of a superfan myself, I caught up with Craven after I finished the trail to talk about Poe and Tilly, Carlisle, and whether the series is turning the city into a literary tourist destination. "I tried to do some of it, but we were at the station and it was just jammed," he said. "The queue was just extraordinary." Some people, he laughed, were asking: "Is this the queue for the pies?" Craven spoke to three women from Germany who had travelled specifically for the event, while an Australian visitor had timed his trip so he could take part. "I reckon I spoke to about 10 or 12 people at least for whom it was their first time in Carlisle," he said. "I've seen them again, and they were kind of blown away by it, I mean really pleasantly surprised. "OK, we took them straight to the historic quarter where there's a lot of nice things to see, it s a lovely part of the city, but there's so much history here." The Poe effect on Cumbrian tourism extends beyond launch day. A London tour operator sends readers, mainly from eastern Europe, to Cumbria to visit locations associated with the books, while American fans were over to see 'Poe's Cumbria' during publication week. Then there was the Japanese reader spotted in the King's Head, Poe's favoured Carlisle watering hole, reading one of Craven's books in Japanese. "She didn't speak much English at all, but eventually she managed to get across that it was my book," Craven said. The pub's landlord Mike was summoned and returned with Craven memorabilia before taking a photograph of her 'holding the book as if she'd won the raffle'. Craven later discovered she had deliberately spent the day in Carlisle visiting Poe-related places before heading into the Lakes, including Shap Wells. Germany is now his biggest market, overtaking the UK. "We sold a million copies in Germany alone last year," he said. "We do phenomenally well. I've got absolutely no idea why. "None of them know that the King's Head is a real place." "So yeah, I do my bit for the Cumbrian economy," he joked. This was evident when the packed launch event that evening, organised by Bookends at The Halston, drew a crowd of around 300 people. That relationship between Carlisle and the books is particularly strong in The Killer's Mark. Poe and Tilly are now working as private investigators, with their office, Cowie House, inspired by Fisher Street Galleries, where Craven's tattooist is based. "It all just came together," he said. "I thought, well, this can be very much a Carlisle story. "The Final Vow was much more of a national story, so I wanted to do a local one." There was, however, one problem when publisher Brionee asked Craven for eight Carlisle locations for the trail. "I couldn't," he laughed. "Poe only goes to the King's Head and Greggs." Organisers therefore had to delve into earlier books - and even one readers have not yet seen. "We've had to go into the book that's out in 2028 to include Tullie and Sketch & Sip and the Vinyl Cafe," Craven revealed. The books mix real Carlisle with Craven's invented version of it. The King's Head and John Watt appear under their real names, while The Dog - supposedly Carlisle's roughest pub - is entirely fictional. Craven said readers nevertheless regularly insist they know which Botchergate pub inspired it. "I genuinely didn't base that on any pub," he said. The trail may also have a life beyond the launch. Cumberland Council Arts, Culture and Heritage Officer Stephen Dunn, who helped organise it, called the response 'absolutely amazing' and said it offered even locals 'a different way to see the city'. He hopes similar trails could encourage people to explore Carlisle and discover its independent businesses and attractions. And there could soon be an even bigger platform for Poe's Cumbria. Craven confirmed television production company The Forge Entertainment has acquired the rights to the Washington Poe series. The company previously produced the acclaimed Robbie Coltrane mini-series National Treasure, and Craven said those involved were big fans of the books and keen to involve him in decisions about any adaptation. He is confident that, if Poe and Tilly do reach the screen, their story will remain set in Cumbria. Meanwhile, The Killer's Mark has entered the Sunday Times bestseller list at number four, with sales 24 per cent higher than its predecessor, The Final Vow. Book nine has already been written, although it will not be released until 2028. "They're selling far too well for me to be allowed to stop," Craven said. "It's published in 31 languages now, so there'll be 31 publishers saying, 'Where's the next one?'" Perhaps the strangest development of all is that readers are now travelling thousands of miles to experience a fictional world Craven built around places that, to him, were simply home. From Japanese readers in the King's Head to Germans queuing for pies at Carlisle station, Poe and Tilly are no longer merely set in Cumbria. They are bringing people here.